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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 06 27 Regular Item 500-Install of Sidewalks on Northern Way,Shetland Ave, and Dyson Dr COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 500 CONSENT INFORMATIONAL PUBLIC HEARING REGULAR X June 27,2005 Meeting MGR tV IDEPT /~ Authorization REQUEST: Public Works Advising the City Commission of the Status of the Proposed Installation of Sidewalks on Northern Way, Shetland Avenue and Dyson Drive and Requesting Direction from the Commission. PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to for the City Commission to provide direction to staff for the Seminole County sidewalk project. PROJECT SUMMARY: Seminole County has proposed the construction of five foot sidewalks along the south side of Northern Way, west side of Shetland Avenue, and both sides of Dyson Drive. The County's proposal is based on the recommendations of the Seminole County School Safety Advisory Committee, which performed a sidewalk needs assessment of all arterial and collector roadways within two miles of all County schools. The proposed sidewalk improvements would be funded through the County at a cost savings to the City of approximately $850,000. The County has also indicated that funding is available for traffic calming along Dyson Drive. CONSIDERATIONS: );.- At the May 9, 2005 City Commission meeting, the Commission directed staff to proceed with the project and incorporate traffic calming and tree replacement into the project and return to the Commission within 90 days. );.- On May 12, 2005, an information update flyer was mailed to all property owners along the sidewalk corridor. The flyer summarized the Commission's action from the May 9 meeting and also provided another opportunity for residents to provide input. ,. Out of a total of 55 residents along the corridor, 25 have provided input to-date, either through the public meeting held April 21, 2005, or by direct communication with Staff. The results of the responses received to-date are summarized as follows: 062705 _ COMM _Regular _500 _Sidewalks-Dyson-NorthernWay-Shetland Regular Agenda item 500 June 27, 2005 Page 2 Dyson Northern Shetland Drive Way Avenue Total Total Residents 35 13 6 54 Total Responses Received 17 4 4 25 For 8 0 1 9 Against 6 3 2 11 Neutral 3 1 1 5 y As the table above indicates, the overall input received to date is mixed, although there appears to be more support for the sidewalks along Dyson Drive than for Northern Way or Shetland Avenue. y Based on the Commission's direction at the May 9 meeting, Staff intended to work closely with the County and the County's design consultants to incorporate the necessary changes to the project design, which include the incorporation of traffic calming, adjustments to the sidewalk alignment to reduce tree and drainage impacts, and the addition of tree replacement where feasible. The County has since informed the City that no work will be performed on the design until the City provides a commitment to the project. The County has funding available to complete the design, including the traffic calming; however, the County is unwilling to commit any additional funding to the project design without an assurance from the City that the project will go forward. y On June 8, 2005, Staff performed an onsite review of the Dyson Drive corridor with Mr. Ian Lockwood, a transportation and traffic calming expert from Glatting Jackson. Mr. Lockwood reviewed the current sidewalk design plans and the County's preliminary design report for the traffic calming. Considering the circumstances, Glatting Jackson supports the County's proposed traffic claming concept along Dyson Drive consisting of six medians and two mini-traffic circles. Glatting would also highly support the sidewalks, with the following additions and changes in order of importance: 1) The most important traffic calming issue involves the sidewalks. The sidewalks are, by far, the most important design change along Dyson Drive for the foreseeable future. They are the only cross-section change being employed. The sidewalks need to be placed at, or near, the edge of the right of way, not next or near to the street. If the sidewalks were placed next to the street, speeds will likely increase due to: i) the increased effective width and appearance of the street; ii) the removal of some trees near the street; and iii) the longer sight lines. Furthermore, the sidewalks placed next to the street will: i) reduce the aesthetics of the street; ii) create a conflict zone between motorists and pedestrians at the pedestrian crossings at the mini-traffic circles; iii) reduce the street tree/aesthetic potential for the street; and iv) reduce pedestrian comfort and safety. 2) Add street trees. There are plenty of mature trees along Dyson Drive but few of them could be considered street trees because they are too far away from the street. Street trees need to be added to create a sense of enclosure for motorists, to shorten sight lines, to help motorists stay conscious of their speed, and to provide a buffer between the pedestrians on the sidewalks and the motorists on the street. Furthermore, street trees will improve the aesthetics of the street, provide a cooling effect for the street and area, and increase pedestrian comfort. 3) Add a mini-traffic circle at Morgan Street. The most effective retrofit measures proposed being employed are the mini-traffic circles. Using them at Arabian Avenue, Morgan Street, Regular Agenda Item 500 June 27.2005 Page 3 and Pine Court would be consistent. It is recommended that the island be sized using the Seattle Guidelines along with a two to three foot mountable apron. 4) The medians will not be highly effective in reducing speeds, but are a good choice of measure nevertheless due to the long length of street and high number of medians. If more effective retrofit measures were employed instead, then there would be a backlash from the neighborhood following implementation and the measures would be removed. It is recommended that the medians have trees in them and have street trees on either side between the curb and the sidewalk. 5) An additional median is recommended near Shetland Avenue to act as an entry feature for the neighborhood and to help alert drivers that Dyson Drive is a traffic calmed street. It would be located west of the first driveway. ? Mr. Lockwood provided some additional comments and recommendations to the City regarding the project: 1) There should only be one project involving all the changes. In this way, residents cannot select only the pieces they like and lobby to leave the rest out. It should be all or nothing. 2) The sidewalks should be at, or near, the edge of the right of way. That location is clearly best for the public interest for safety, traffic calming, aesthetics, the social capital of neighborhood, etc. However, individual property owners may push to have the sidewalk next to the street. From their perspective, moving the sidewalk on one property to the street does not make a huge difference in the big picture. However, we know that if everyone along the street were to do the same thing, then the result would be highly undesirable and a great opportunity would be missed. 3) Part of the challenge has to do with the fact that the City is doing two things at once; designing and approving. The approval and design processes would likely be easier for staff (and get a better design result) if the Commission were to approve the project in two steps. Step 1 would be to approve the idea of traffic calming the street (including everything such as sidewalks, street trees, medians, etc.) before discussing the design specifics. Between Step 1 and Step 2, the specific designs would be developed. Step 2 would be approving the design. In this way, after Step 1, the sidewalk designer, for example, could go to an adjacent property owner and say, "As you know, sidewalks will be built through here, let's work together of the design." This avoids having to argue with people who want to fight the very idea of sidewalks. ? Based on the input received from the residents and the analysis performed by Mr. Lockwood, Staff believes that there can be a sidewalk / traffic calming project along Dyson Drive that meets a community need and is supported by a majority of the residents. The current design, which does not include any traffic calming, tree replacement, or sidewalk alignment modifications, is supported by approximately 50% of the respondents. The input received from most of the "neutral" respondents indicates that the addition of the design improvements discussed herein (traffic calming, tree replacement, etc.) would enable them to support the project and thus create a clear majority in support of the project. Regular Agenda Item 500 June 27. 2005 Page 4 ALTERNATIVES: The City Commission has several alternatives: 1. Direct staff to decline the $850,000 County funded sidewalk and traffic calming project to improve safety. 2. Commit to the project and direct Staff to request that the County to proceed with final design at the County's expense, conditional upon the incorporation of: 1) traffic calming; 2) moving the sidewalks along Dyson Drive at or near the edge of the right-of-way; and 3) adding street trees along Dyson Drive. 3. Direct staff to proceed with the design of the sidewalks and traffic calming at the City's expense. This would allow the design to be updated and brought back to the Commission and residents before final approval of the concept. The City's cost to complete the design, if this alternative were acceptable to the County, would be approximately $25,000. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Commission provide a commitment to the project and direct Staff to request that the County to proceed with final design, conditional upon the incorporation of the following design additions and modifications: 1) Traffic calming along Dyson Drive 2) Sidewalks along Dyson Drive to be moved at or near the edge of the right-of-way 3) Add street trees IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE: The County is prepared to proceed with the final design if the City commits to the project. Final design is expected to take 3-4 months, with bidding and construction likely beginning near the end of2005 or early 2006. ATTACHMENTS: None COMMISSION ACTION: